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FL Tax Collector Calls for a Boycott of Hobby Lobby

It didn’t take long for the newly-elected Orange County tax collector to weigh in on the new health care mandate issue. The lawsuit filed by the arts and craft store chain Hobby Lobby is just one of over forty cases working their way through U.S. courts. On Facebook, tax collector Scott Randolph initiated a boycott of Hobby Lobby because the Christian owners refuse to cover abortion-like birth control. Randolph shows no concern for the thousands of Hobby Lobby employees who may lose their jobs if the store has to shut its doors for not complying with the new mandate.

The new health care mandate requires businesses and religious institutions to carry employee insurance that covers contraceptives, including emergency contraceptives such as Plan B and ella that can kill an embryo after fertilization and even after implantation. This is considered an abortion to the pro-life community.

While many of the religious liberty lawsuits have won injunctions, TownHall.com reports Hobby Lobby unsuccessfully appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who oversees emergency appeals from the Tenth Circuit. Sotomayor did say the lawsuit could proceed in the lower court and be appealed back to the high court at the appropriate time.

In defying court orders, the Christian owners of Hobby Lobby, could be fined $1.3 million a day since Tuesday, Jan 1.

Scott Randolph’s intolerance and contempt for those with opposing views is nothing new. This is the same Scott Randolph who threatened and belittled a female colleague on the floor of the Florida State House when she voted for legislation not to his liking. The pinnacle of Randolph’s political career was his appearance with the high priestess of progressive thinking, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, however Politifact’s truth-o-meter pointed out that accusations made by Randolph were false. But, that didn’t stop this Alan Grayson-wannabe from instant progressive popularity.

The Scott Randolphs of the world may mock Hobby Lobby, but for the rest of us reasonable people, it is difficult not to have compassion for the owner of Hobby Lobby as he stands to lose what it took a lifetime of hard work and dedication to create as he lives by his Christian morals. Read his heartfelt letter:

When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn’t much bigger than most people’s living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God’s word. From there,Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation’s largest arts and crafts retailers, with more than 500 locations in 41 states. Our children grew up into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby together, as a family.

We’re Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I’ve always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God’s laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that’s what we’ve tried to do. We close early so our employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of the week’s biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can enjoy a day of rest. We believe that it is by God’s grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our employees. We’ve not only added jobs in a weak economy, we’ve raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage.

But now, our government threatens to change all of that. A new government health care mandate says that our family business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs as part of our health insurance. Being Christians, we don’t pay for drugs that might cause abortions, which means that we don’t cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs. It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one. If we refuse to comply, we could face $1.3 million PER DAY in government fines.

Our government threatens to fine job creators in a bad economy. Our government threatens to fine a company that’s raised wages four years running. Our government threatens to fine a family for running its business according to its beliefs. It’s not right. I know people will say we ought to follow the rules; that it’s the same for everybody. But that’s not true. The government has exempted thousands of companies from this mandate, for reasons of convenience or cost. But it won’t exempt them for reasons of religious belief.

So, Hobby Lobby and my family are forced to make a choice. With great reluctance, we filed a lawsuit today, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, asking a federal court to stop this mandate before it hurts our business. We don’t like to go running into court, but we no longer have a choice. We believe people are more important than the bottom line and that honoring God is more important than turning a profit.

My family has lived the American dream. We want to continue growing our company and providing great jobs for thousands of employees, but the government is going to make that much more difficult. The government is forcing us to choose between following our faith and following the law. I say that’s a choice no American and no American business should have to make.

The government cannot force you to follow laws that go against your fundamental religious belief. They have exempted thousands of companies but will not except Christian organizations including the Catholic church.

Since you will not see this covered in any of the liberal media, pass this on to all your contacts.

Sincerely,

David Green, CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

The government is coming for Christian business owners and Christian charities. Are we going to standby and do nothing? Right now, we need to show our support for the Green Family of Hobby Lobby. We can send a thank you letter to the Green Family HERE. We can find a Hobby Lobby near us and shop there. And, we can also call the Orange County FL tax collector office at 407-836-2709 and tell Scott Randolph to call off his boycott of Hobby Lobby and to apologize to the Green family.

If you want to know more about Hobby Lobby and HHS mandate, watch this video:

5 thoughts on “FL Tax Collector Calls for a Boycott of Hobby Lobby”

Should I be surprised at what a slob this leftist public servant is? I am not, given the degradation of our political culture and the creeps who operate in it. This is a former louse of a Florida state Representative who termed out and now has just been elected to the office of Orange County Tax Collector. This elected career government worker, whose salary is paid by people who work, suggests that folks not patronize a business, where people get work. This is the sorry character of the leftist.